Research
The research conducted at LIM lies at the interface of material science, and electrical engineering. We are particularly interested in combining advances in roll-to-roll systems, printing and scalable nanomanufacturing technologies that leverage the emerging flexible hybrid electronics ecosystem. The research is multidisciplinary and focused transformative laboratory ideas that can positively impact our society in addressing grand challenges in global health and environment.

Smart Flexible Platforms Monitoring ​&Treatment of Chronic Wounds 

Chronic nonhealing wounds are a major source of morbidity and mortality in bed-ridden and diabetic patients.Monitoring of physical and chemical parameters important in wound healing and remodeling process can be of immense benefit for optimum management of such lesions. ​Our goal is to create the next generation of smart-dressing for chronic wound management that consists of a flexible platform with embedded electronics and an array of physical, chemical, and biological modules, capable of sensing with active intervention in wound microenvironment.

Laser-Enabled Fabrication Technologies for Low-Cost Flexible Device​s

Laser-enabled fabrication methods, in particular surface modification and ablation provide a simple and scalable alternative to conventional photolithography-based processes and printing technologies.  Our  efforts focuses towards using R2R laser processing approaches to modify commercial papers (e.g., parchment paper, wax paper, palette paper, metallized paper etc.) and thermoset polymers (e.g., polyimide) by controlled surface ablation. Such treatment imparts unique physical and chemical properties (hydrophilicity, extreme porosity, carbonization, formation of functional nano particles, etc.) to the material and allows for selective surface functionalization and patterning. Using this method, we fabricated a variety of sensors (pH, oxygen, silver, strain) and chemical delivery (oxygen) modules on low-cost commercial substrates that are uniquely suited for disposable point of care diagnostic and food safety and packaging.

Printing and Scalable Manufacturing of Aware and Responsive Thin (SMART) Films 

Communication and computing advances have revolutionized everyday life. In the near future, society will once again be revolutionized through Internet of Things (IoT), which is the interconnection of sensors embedded in everyday objects to send and receive data. This interconnectivity helps industry track usage, increase personalization and optimize performance. The huge amount of data generated through IoT gives industries the ability to measure, analyze and optimize their products and their users’ experience. To date, cost has been a major barrier to the widespread implementation of IoT. Traditional silicon-based sensors are powerful but expensive. Oour research focuses on developing scalable manufacturing techniques to produce low-cost sensors and IoT devices that can empower technologies for digital health, precision agriculture, and smart packaging.

Paper-based in-vitro Models for Drug Screening

Developing new therapies and studying risk factors (such as reactive oxygen species (ROS)) in cancer progression requires extensive and costly sequential testing process including in-vitro, in-vivo, and clinical trials. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture testings are often specifically aimed to determine whether a candidate drug has a scientific merit for further development. However, such in-vitro models often are not able to simulate the real complex cell interaction and behavior in-vivo. Furthermore animal models have several concerns including ethical and their proper biological relevancy and drug response as compared to humans. Thus, there is a need for more cost effective and simple platforms that can mimic the physiologic conditions observed in-vivo.  Paper-based microfludics can provide an ideal, robust, and inexpensive platform for generating a 3D culture environment of cells on-chip in a high-throughput fashion for disease modelling and in-vitro drug testing.

Stretchable Embroidered Electronics and Smart Textiles

Seamless integration of intelligence into our everyday garment can provide a natural and comfortable interface between the user and his/her own body or external environment. This notion has driven the development of many new smart textiles and garments in diverse applications ranging from monitoring physiological signals and rehabilitation for athletes to consumer electronics. Sewing machines provide extraordinary and sophisticated capabilities for precise manipulation of threads to form complex patterns onto fabrics and flexible polymeric substrates. Using this technology, we were able to create intricate arrays of stretchable metallic wires and micro-tubings which can be adapted for a variety of wearable applications such as stretchable sensors, antennas, and controlled drug delivery.

Stretchable Hydrogel Electronics and Devices

Coupling hydrogels with stretchable electronics offers unique opportunities in the development of novel healthcare devices with mechanical/structural properties similar to the native tissues. However, common electronic manufacturing processing such as vacuum deposition and printing technologies are incompatible with hydrogel surfaces. Our aims to fill this technological gap by demonstrating a new approach in fabricating a stretchable and degradable hydrogel with integrated stretchable electronics through rapid maskless direct laser processing and assembling technique.

Dosimeter for Occupational Radiation Monitoring and Sterilization Industry

Gamma radiation is used routinely to sterilize medical, dental, and household products and is also used for the radiation treatment of cancer. To measure radiation values, traditional radiation sensors are strategically placed in hospitals, sterilization facilities, and personal dosimeters are worn by workers. However, there are important drawbacks inherent to such systems including high cost and lack of a simple real-time user feedback (e.g., film patches with luminescence), making them impractical for large-scale public dissemination. Our work in this field includes combining radiation responsive organic and Inorganic materials with scalable manufacturing techniques (e.g. laser and inkjet printing) to design and develop novel inexpensive, film-type, disposable radiation dosimeters.